Southern
Baptists have prepared a statement of generally held convictions called The Baptist Faith and Message. It serves as a guide to understanding who we are.
Copies are available at Emmanuel. The topics here provide only
a brief, partial summary.
The Scriptures
The Holy Bible
was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man.
It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author,
salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.
God
There is one
and only one living and true God. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without
division of nature, essence, or being.
Man
Man was created
by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His
creation. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the
human race. Every man
possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Salvation
Salvation
involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who
accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In its broadest sense salvation includes
regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
God's Purpose
of Grace
Election is the
gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, sanctifies, and
glorifies sinners. Those whom God has
accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the
state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.
The Church
A New Testament
church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are
associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel…and seeking to
extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. This church is an autonomous body.
The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ, which
includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.
Baptism &
the Lord's Supper
Christian
baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. It is an act of obedience
symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior.
The Lord's
Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members memorialize the death of
the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Evangelism
& Missions
It is the duty
and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus
Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.
Family
God has
ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage
is the unity of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.